Five Souls, One Wounded And Another Lost
by Fena Spiros
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission. A mere area supervision in search of any Galra activity. The planet seemed peaceful enough to go without their Lions. What team Voltron didn't expect was to return with one wounded Paladin and a self blaming leader.
1. Chapter 1

He had failed.

No matter how he looked at the situation, there was absolutely no way for the male _not_ to blame himself. Wasn't the Black Lion's Paladin supposed to be the leader? Who took care of each one of the team? How could he let _that_ happen? The man addressed usually as Shiro couldn't quite get the fact around his mind. But there was no time, not when he held a wounded teammate with his shaking arms. He could feel the warm, dense liquid run down his limbs, but the blood was not his. But hers, Pidge's blood. She had taken a full blast in plain torso, her armor being the only defense that prevented her from dying on the spot.

"Hold on, Pidge. We're almost there." He managed to say, his voice urging and worn due the soreness that his throat felt. He'd shouted way too much in the last few hours, after all. The only reply he got was a grunted complain from the smaller Paladin, who kept her eyes shut tightly in pain, though she seemed to be containing any other display of discomfort pretty well. That didn't make Shiro feel any better.

The Green Paladin had her arms wrapped around Shiro's shoulders, keeping her face buried in the the crook of his neck. Pidge's breath against his skin send shivers down his spine. So weak and irregular. The Black Paladin couldn't do anything but to run back to the castleship to get the younger one into the healing pods. He had to be quick, Pidge wasn't going to last long.

"Mm... Shiro-" The Green Paladin mumbled, her voice shaky and emitting the pain she passed through in that very moment. Said man immediately looked down to his agonizing teammate. Despite how much he wanted, eye contact was impossible. Pidge kept herself in the same position, mainly focusing on controlling her breath. " 'S fine..." She didn't want him to feel guilty over her own stupidity. She let her emotions take over. She was too reckless.

And now she was paying the consequences.

She twisted on her stomach, though attempting not to lose the small grip she held around Shiro's shoulders. It hurt like Hell, the small Paladin was well aware that that specific area of the torso was one of the most sensitive parts of the human body, the great amount of nerves was the clear cause of that. Her skin had stopped burning and became numb, as if her brain had given up on warning her system of the damage. Pidge mentally scolded herself repetitively, how could she have been so... Stupid?

Shiro wouldn't argue, not in this situation. He could only try to give her hope and verbal support. "You'll be fine, Pidge. I promise." The older Paladin assured, though he had no idea of how far their destination was. He mentally growled at his uselessness in the present. He could protect her -this time, however, he failed- but couldn't heal her. Not when the wound was too deep. God, how did he let that happen in the first place?

Shiro's mind went back to the time where everything went wrong.

* * *

"I would not advise you to take your Lions to this mission." Princess Allura calmly spoke to the team gathered in the training deck. After an exhausting day of practice, the Altean woman had decided to send the Paladins to a simple scouting mission in a 'peaceful' planet. It seemed simple enough for the tired team, and a great opportunity to test their ground resistance. "You do not need to attract unwanted attention."

"Understood." Shiro, the only Paladin that actually looked with energy, replied with a single nod of acknowledgment before placing his helmet back on his head. "You heard the princess. Let's suit up." Several grunts of complains echoed through the training deck, those belonging to the exhausted Paladins. "Come on, guys." The leader urged as he walked out of the room, followed by the rest.

It took them short to land on the newly found planet. It being rather desert and mountain-y for them to walk all day. Lance, whose pod arrived first, was the only one to groan out loud. "C'mon, this is too much." The Blue Paladin complained as soon as the rest of team Voltron arrived. "Give me a break."

"Stop complaining." Keith retorted with an annoyed tone, Lance's cries for rest already itching the back of his neck. The black haired Paladin looked over to their leader, who had just gotten off his own pod. "Where do we go now?" He inquired to Shiro with a raised eyebrow and his arms folded across his chest. The leader remained silent for a mere few seconds, his mind running through options of procedures.

"Let's split up so we can cover more ground in less time." It _seemed_ simple enough, a plan they've gone through several times in various missions. And, so far, it had worked pretty well according to the records, so it sounded perfect for the tired team. As if out of nature, the group had already divided in three parts. Keith and Lance -who despite their constant bickering, worked along pretty well-, Hunk by himself (not that he was eager to venture on his own, but they all only wanted to go through the mission fast), and lastly Shiro and Pidge. Once the team was settled with general indications, they parted ways.

It took three hours for Shiro and Pidge to encounter some sort of danger. Three damned tedious hours of just walking around, hoping not to get trapped in an endless circle. They attempted to start small conversations, but it didn't quite worked for the time being. Though one question that the youngest Paladin made stayed roaming in Shiro's mind.

 _"Are you scared?"_ The question had arrived so suddenly that it took the Black Paladin all his efforts not to come to a halt. Pidge seemed absolutely serious, and Shiro didn't quite know where it had come from.

 _"Of what?"_ After regaining his composure, the leader questioned back, his dark gray eyes focused now on his fellow teammate that walked just a few meters ahead from the former. There were many things he- they, could be afraid of. The Galra, never returning to Earth, being recaptured (that mostly went on Shiro's side) and, of course-

 _"Scared of dying."_ Her voice lowered and so did her tone, Pidge's voice now being a mere whisper even within the silent atmosphere that surrounded them all. Of course she would ask that, Shiro mused, despite how strong she was at her young age-and believe him, she was rather strong-, she was still terrified of not being able to save or see her family again, of dying before even knowing their location. The leader was well aware of that and took it as a personal job to bring the Green Paladin hope at any adversity.

 _"Of course I am."_ Shiro truthfully replied, his tone emphatic and kind, _"But I know we'll make it out alive. No matter how strong our foes are, we **will** pull through. Alright?" _Pidge refrained herself from making any response other than nodding, but even that gesture was interrupted by a loud sound. An explosion. The young Paladin turned fully to look at Shiro, nervousness overflowing her honey eyes. _"Let's not-"_

There was no time. Before the Black Paladin could reply, the two found themselves running away from a wave of blast from an unknown source. But the pair _knew_ who was responsible for them, but without their Lions, the team couldn't fight fairly.

The Galra took them by surprise. Mistake number one.

* * *

 **Yo! Fena (AKA: Feryaylove) here!  
**

 **So, here's the start of a short story I'm making for this wonderful show I have fallen in love with. It is my first fanfiction of this fandom, so I apologize for the OOC!**

 **Also, if there are any mistakes and things of the sort, please let me know. English isn't my first language and I'm still trying to develop more writing skills in this language. You'll be great help.**

 **Anywho, I hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to comment, suggest and PM me if you want. I'm always open to new things and stories (so if you want me to write you up some one-shot, we can talk).**

 **Thank you for reading,**

 **Fena~!**


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro's muscles screamed for mercy, begging for a stop and at least a few moments to rest. His lungs were practically burning as the arid air erratically entered and left his body through pants and gasps. As well trained as he could be, there was absolutely no way for _any_ to keep up such pace for a longer period of time. Black Paladin was utterly exhausted both mentally and physically, but he would keep on going no matter what stood in his way.

Pidge, however, was in a much more tiresome struggle, her body not quite prepared for such extended races without any stop. Don't get her wrong, she'd trained and wore herself out as much as the other Paladins, but in comparison to Shiro, Pidge wasn't much of an athlete or a fighter. Although she excelled in hand-to-hand combat, Pidge's stamina limit was quite low when it came to continuous activity, such as running for extended periods of time. "We've got to go back to the pods!" Her voice came out like a loud whisper as she hoped not to grab more attention than wanted -which would be none-.

The Black Paladin nodded barely catching Pidge's voice over his very own breathing. "Alright, follow my lead." It wasn't really necessary for him to say that, he knew that the girl would tag along in that sort of situation. Without a proper motivation for her to stay around the Galra -like the possibility of gathering information about her family's whereabouts- Pidge wouldn't take many risks if they could be avoided. And the situation the two were going through was one of those moments. To be honest, the smaller Paladin didn't even think of interrogating the soldiers or even approaching them all together.

It was fortunate for the two when sudden silence overtook the area, the gun fire ceasing abruptly. Did they lose them? Was it some sort of a trap or something? They hoped for the first, of course. After running a few minutes longer the Paladins came to a halt as they gasped for breath that seemingly refused to enter their empty lungs, tired of running aimlessly away from an enemy that could've killed -or capture- them with no second thought. The leader's gray eyes shifted over to his companion, trying to make out some word in order to ask about her well being. The fact that his voice came out a few moments later was no surprise for neither of the two, "Are you alright, Pidge?" Shiro questioned as he finally managed to regain his composure.

"Yeah,- yeah." Pidge replied between gulps of air with a shaky, yet reassuring, voice. "Just tired a-and whatnot. You?" Her honey hues turned to Shiro and quickly made a scan of his state rigorously. No wound was visible on him, she noted and sighed in relief for such fact, however Pidge knew that encounters like this could trigger memories in his mind, disabling him for a brief moment that could turn into deadly in a blink of an eye. And they weren't exactly in the position to handle such thing.

"I'm good, nothing hurt, nothing broken." Shiro responded with the smallest of assuring smiles, attempting to ease the studying girl that didn't look as convinced as he would've liked. Though there was nothing much he could do once the thought crossed her mind, so he stuck with only waiting for her to decide that he was telling the truth. Whilst she did so, another urgent reminder crossed his reorganized mind. "Lance, Hunk, Keith, do you copy?" Those words seemed to also pull Pidge out of her trance, for her eyes immediately shifted to Shiro's features, or, more specifically, his helmet.

 _"Shiro! Oh god, I'm glad you're okay. This guys suddenly appeared out of nowhere and I just got out of there. Were they Galra soldiers? Please tell me that they weren't Galra soldiers. Just confused natives would be fine to be honest, but not the Galra-"_ And so went Hunk's rushed voice in several questions that Shiro couldn't quite get. He glanced over to Pidge, his eyes filled with relief at the news of at least one of the team. She grinned her nervousness out, finding Hunk's usual annoying worried speeches quite comforting at the second.

"Hunk- **Hunk.** " As much as he enjoyed that his teammate was fine, he needed a little more of silence to hear if the other two found themselves, in fact, safe. "We're alright. And yes, those were Galra soldiers, but they don't know about your presence. Head to the pods, we need to head back to the castleship as soon as possible, understood?"

" _Okay, okay. Understood."_ With that the line went silent. If everything went right, the next thing Shiro would hear from Hunk's end would be him informing the leader about safely arriving to the pods. With Hunk crossed from the list, the leader now focused himself on reaching the other two that remained silent during his little check up with the Yellow Paladin.

"Keith, Lance, respond. Do you copy?" The Paladin inquired whilst laying his back on a rather large boulder they came across, ultimately using it as both hiding spot and support for the worn out pair. Pidge fell by his side until she fully sat on the ground with her knees close to her chest. The Green Paladin kept her eyes on the other, awaiting for any positive sign of the team's state. Shiro awaited for a few moments before repeating the message once again, worry slowly building in his system. "Kei-"

" _We copy._ " The Red Paladin finally replied with a sigh. Shiro couldn't help but to let his shoulders drop in relief, they were fine, they were _all_ fine. " _We got attacked by two Galra units, but Lance and I managed to take them out._ "

"Good." The leader nodded at the small report given by Keith, whose voice was slightly silenced by Lance's constant complains about himself being tired. At least they were unharmed and well enough to speak so much in such short time. "Hunk, Pidge and I are heading back to the pods, you two do the same. And _please_ , stay out of trouble." Shiro knew Lance and Keith's constant bickering would lead them into different situations, most of them to a really loud fight. And that wasn't exactly optimal for the actual mission.

" _Got it._ " Once again the line went dead, but this time Shiro felt at ease. Pidge let out a shaky breath, a smile pushing its way to her tense features. They knew that there was still a task to accomplish, to reach the pods safely with the rest of the team, and it was better to move before the Galra soldiers arrive.

"Let's get going." Shiro said as he stood up straight and brushing some dust off his suit before starting to walk. The other followed his movements close behind as she stood up and took a look around, her eyes narrowed under suspicion. Pidge grew noticeably tense as time progressed and they moved through the strange planet. The fact didn't go unnoticed under Shiro's keen eye, filling him with a new worry. "Something wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Pidge replied looking sideways, "But it's like they simply _gave up_ on searching for us. Isn't that a little... Odd? I mean, we did run a lot, but still." She had a point, the environment was way too quiet after the brief encounter with the Galra. Shiro grew skeptical, what if it _was_ a trap after all? It wouldn't be new for the Galra but truly unsettling for them. "Should we be worried? I feel like this a thing we should be worried about."

It took Shiro a few moments to reply. "I don't know. We must focus on getting to the pods and regrouping." Despite the experience held by both Paladins, an encounter in which they were outnumbered would always mean a bad time. So, it was pretty wise to _avoid_ them at all costs. "Let's keep on moving, okay? Let's make sure they don't catch up." Another reassuring smile rested on his features.

He could tell that Pidge wasn't convinced, not at all. But that didn't stop her from nodding and mumbling a small ' _okay'_ in response. Shiro proceeded to move further, hoping that they wouldn't end up walking in endless circles. That would _definitively_ mean encountering the Galra once again. "I wonder the reason why they're here though, " She continued her previous train of thought, "Our readings showed no life signals around this planet of any kind other than vegetative species. There is no reason for them to be here, not yet that is." Pidge placed her thumb and index finger around her chin, thoughtful. "What if there was _something_ here. Something important enough to make them send soldiers to guard."

"Whatever it is, we must be cautious. Once we get to the Castleship, we'll inform the Princess and get our Lions." The leader responded whilst looking around the area they walked through. It seemed familiar enough, fortunately. Then an idea popped up in Shiro's mind, "Pidge, have you been doing a scan on the planet?"

"Yeah, why?" The addressed girl replied with furrowed eyebrows, currently not following Shiro's words. Not while she was lost in her own little world.

"Could that possibly work for you to make some sort of a map? It may come in handy." He said in a suggestive tone, not really wanting to force Pidge into a puzzle she would spend a long time breaking her neurons on resolving. Luckily she seemed to get his plan with ease, a smirk being drawn on her features.

" 'Course I can. Just give me a minute." Why didn't she come up with that earlier? Was she so focused on finding out why Zarkon's soldiers were in the strange planet? Whatever the reason was, she needed to push it aside for the moment. Their main task was to regroup and return to the Castleship with the others, no casualties, no injuries.

 _Or so was their plan. Mistake number two.  
_

* * *

"Don't worry Pidge, we're almost there." Shiro was certainly glad that the smaller Paladin had managed to share the half made map to him before the whole mission went south. If not, he'd be practically on the other side of the planet by the time he spoke those words in hopes to maintain his teammate awake. The bleeding had decreased in a significant way, and he was grateful for that, but the blood loss had been too grand for Shiro to calm down.

"Whaddabout the others...?" Pidge's voice barely got to catch Shiro's attention, it being now a mere silent mumble, obviously the lack of energy being the cause of her slurred words. "Are they alright?" She was scared, terrified. What if her stupidity brought _everyone_ down? Were they injured as well? Were they able to escape? And so were the questions hunting Pidge's exhausted mind.

"They're safe and sound," Shiro assured, "They're waiting for us, in the Castleship. The pods shouldn't be so far, so hang on. Don't fall asleep, okay?" If anything, he had to make sure that the Green Paladin stayed up and responsive. He too was afraid of her closing her eyes and not opening them, _again_.

"I screwed up, didn't I?" His gaze immediately fell on the other as she spoke, her sentence as clear as it could be in her state. "I should've- Listened to you. But at least we got some in-" Her words were interrupted as she got caught on a fit of coughs that made her whole body flinch in pain. "Info 'n such, didn't we?" She was seeking for comfort in her own actions, an excuse for her wound. Both statements were true, but neither got the result she looked for. "I still need to download it to my computer and translate it, maybe Hu- Hunk can help me with the stuff, y'know-" With that she started rambling, completely unaware that her whole body was shaking violently.

"Pidge," She didn't respond, " _Pidge_ ," The smaller Paladin continued on talking, as if trying to shut Shiro's voice off with the sound of her own, " ** _Katie._** " That did the trick. At the only sound of her name, Pidge closed her mouth shut, eyes slightly wide. Shiro didn't know if to be relieved or let guilt devour his insides for pushing a delicate subject in such dire moment. He wanted her to stay awake, not to do so by adding more weight on herself. "Stop that, there's nothing to blame yourself about right now." Lying wasn't going to help either, it was clear that Pidge had made a poor decision, but him as her teammate- No. As her _friend_ should've been there to support her whenever she fell. And that's where he failed, therefore the fault was shared and he wouldn't let Pidge take his half.

"..." Silence was the only response given by the girl whose eyes seemed to be giving up to exhaustion. She fought against it, she _really_ did. Making Shiro even more worried was the last thing she wanted to do, however it seemed so difficult from her point of view. Perhaps if she continued talking, she won't close her eyes. "...Are we closer to the pods yet?" She softly questioned, nuzzling onto his chest in the search from some source of heat, her body wasn't quite doing the job anymore.

Shiro couldn't help but to hold the Paladin a little tighter, his eyes shifting between her shivering pale body and the way forth. "We're close, Pidge. We're close." He thanked again for the map and the rather small size of the planet. He thanked that Pidge remained alive and coherently responsive. And he certainly thanked when silhouettes of the pods came into the view.

Shiro, on the other side, didn't thank when more figures appeared. Not any figures, however. Those were figures of individuals holding weapons and prepared to shoot in sight.

* * *

 **Yes, I finally managed to finish this chapter! I'm sorry if it took so long, I've been too busy to write my idea up. But! Here it is, I ain't giving up on this story just yet, so wait for more on the way~!**

 **Please leave a review with opinions, suggestions and comments, I appreciate them very much!**

 **Fena out~!**


	3. Chapter 3

Pidge could barely make out concrete figures out of her blurry vision and blinding pain rushing through her body. She knew also that someone was talking to her, slurred words were getting to her eardrums at least. The girl was _aware_ that someone was trying to reach out to her, snap her mind out of its dead-like trance. The voice sounded all too familiar, and her brain still managed to work enough for her to call out for memories and the current context of the situation.

Oh, right. She was wounded and about to lose consciousness in any, _any_ second. And Shiro, who happened to be her only support for the moment, would certainly not like that. None of the Paladins and Alteans would. She needed to hang on and stay awake for their sake, keep them on hoping that they could push away any adversity, even near-death experiences like she was going through that moment. God, it was so frustrating, but at the same time somewhat funny. It was like being underwater, her leader's voice managed to be heard, but not quite so. That only thing got her thinking, _When was the last time she went underwater? Were there even planets with vast oceans like the ones back on Earth? Planets of water, perhaps?_ And so were the random thoughts running in her clouded mind.

"Pidge!" The Black Paladin finally managed to break through the barrier between him and the girl with a rather desperate call. She'd been gone unresponsive for a couple of agonizing minutes. Her hazel eyes finally snapped out from their frozen state, rapidly shifting to the male who held her. She mumbled something undecipherable under her breath, making her best effort to communicate some sort of apology or reassurance, he couldn't really tell. "I can see the pods, but there are some Galra soldiers there." He carefully informed, feeling Pidge's body tense up at his words. The only explanation for him to be telling her such meant that Shiro didn't know what to do.

"I- Can distract 'em..." Pidge worded out with a grunt and a shift of her body, attempting to free herself from Shiro's steady grip. Of course, he wouldn't let go of her that easily, less after the Green Paladin's statement. She frowned upon noticing that her efforts brought no avail even if she tried her hardest.

The male shook his head vigorously, "Nope. I'm not letting you go in this condition, Pidge. Don't even think about it." His tone remained firm, yet refrained itself from harsh. She was in no shape to even stand, and her ideas were, usually, quite reckless and impulsive in such kind of moments. She muttered in complain, wriggling in a more violent way. Still, it wasn't enough to make Shiro let go of her. "Pidge, stop. You're just wasting energy."

"Lemme go Shiro, I can distract 'em with my hologram-" She had stopped her efforts by the time, only to grab a hold of a steady breathing, "-Thingy." It made sense in her mind, and so in Shiro's after her brief explanation. He remained hesitant for a few moments with his lips pursed into a thin line.

Shiro ultimately sighed in defeat, there was no way that he could take on, what, six visible soldiers? Not if he had to keep an eye on his teammate that could slip through his fingers in any moment. No, he wouldn't let that happen twice. Pidge's determination reminded him of her brother, Matt. She was even more stubborn than his former crew mate, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing in this sort of predicament. He couldn't lose another Holt. "Alright, but I'll keep a hold of you so nothing happens, okay?" The smaller Paladin nodded at his words, gently letting her arms drop from his neck to his chest. Shiro slowly moved his arms downwards and let Pidge's body to slide gracefully to the ground. His hands then went under her armpits to provide her the lacking balance she had once her feet reached the ground.

"M'kay," She drowsily mumbled once stable, "Lemme deploy the- " Her voice went on mute suddenly, shaking her head to push away the dizziness that got onto her a few moments later of standing. "- Uh, no. That's not the word..." She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows in thought, what was _that_ word again?

"Pidge, the faster the better." Shiro urged as soon as he noticed that she had begun to drift away again. Fortunately she was still awake enough to reply with a few nods. Then a small screen emerged from her left wrist, and with her right hand she started working, typing away at still an impressive speed despite her clouded mind. He couldn't stop being surprised of her, and rather proud too, but he would compliment her later.

"I think I got it right..." She narrowed her eyes at the fuzzy words on the screen, even English seemed foreign for her. But at last, a perfectly made hologram of Pidge appeared before the two, ready to receive orders from the girl. "Ready when you are." She knew that running wasn't a chance for her, she would fall in any second and call lights out in another. The Black Paladin nodded, and proceeded to pick up Pidge bridal style, so she could make any changes with her hologram when needed. "And... Go." She muttered as she sent off the virtual image, which caught immediately the attention of the guards that turned to follow the rushing figure without a shadow. Luckily, the Galra failed to see it, therefore they had more time than Pidge initially thought.

Shiro wasted absolutely no second on sprinting towards the two now lonely pods, reaching them in just a few seconds. He was already exhausted and panting, the whole visit to the planet was no walk in the park, at all. The small exploring pods were individual, meaning that he had to leave Pidge in one, set auto pilot and hope for the best. "Alright, Pidge? I'll put you in your pod, do you think you can handle yourself in the way to the castleship?" Shiro questioned as he opened Pidge's pod. The smaller Paladin nodded, letting herself be moved around without other complain than hisses of pain. Once settled in, the leader programmed the machine in autopilot, ultimately closing it. "Please let her be alright." He whispered as he stepped back and looked at the small space vehicle take off.

Now it was his turn to go. Shiro turned to his own pod, only to catch a glimpse of Pidge's hologram being shot down and falling to the ground. He winced and forced himself to look away, _'Did Pidge put some upgrades on that thing?'_ he questioned himself, the 'death' of her image being way too real for him not to imagine what would've happened if it was Pidge herself, not the hologram. He shook his head and climbed onto the pod, closing it and setting the screen for take off. With a rumble, the space machine took off and headed back to the castleship, finally allowing Shiro to lay back and take a big breath. They had done it, they escaped the planet.

Yet, he couldn't stop remembering.

* * *

Pidge's furrowed eyebrows indicated that there was something off, and that didn't let Shiro relax in any moment. "What's up?" He asked as he walked to her side, looking at the small green screen on her left wrist. It was clearly a map, both Altean and English words showing up on the image that constantly changed, adding more and more information the Black Paladin couldn't quite keep up with easily.

"There's... Something in here. Like, _in_ the planet. I guess it's some sort of mining complex like in the Balmera, but something's totally different..." She mumbled in reply, eyes narrowed as she quickly read whatever new info popped up in the screen. "We ought to investigate it." Her honey hues snapped back to encounter Shiro's dark gray ones.

"Oh no." He denied with a shake of his head, "No, Pidge. We need to regroup and make a plan to even think on intruding inside this planet. Who knows how many Galra units are walking around here." It wasn't like he _didn't_ want to explore further, uncover whatever secret was being kept in the strange planet. But, there were priorities, thus Shiro had to remain strong in his posture.

"They already know about our presence here, Shiro." Pidge argued back, the screen gone as she took a defensive tone, one that Shiro knew was difficult to fight against. "They'll expect us to return or, even worse, they'll follow us away from here. We might not even _have_ a chance to approach this planet, again. But we're already here, and it's not like I'm planning us to attack whatever structure they have here, but just take a sneak peek and get the Hell out of here." Her voice gave off that she wasn't exactly going to accept a 'no' as an answer, but Shiro was skeptical.

"Pidge, we'll be back. If there something in this planet, we _will_ find it." The leader insisted, placing both of his hands on each of her shoulders, looking into her eyes. The Green Paladin frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, huffing at Shiro's words. "Come on, let's meet the others, okay?"

But Pidge stayed on her spot. "Shiro, this is our chance to investigate. Wasn't that the reason why we came here?" She stubbornly inquired, one of her eyebrows twitching in irritation, "Let's just take a look. Five minutes is all I need to scan whatever is down there. Please?" The girl begged with glistening eyes filled with both energy and curiosity. He knew that it'd be difficult to decline to her plead, but it still meant a great risk for them to take. "I can go by myself if you want," With those words Shiro frowned as concern appeared in his eyes, "I'll keep you informed as I go, then we meet at the-"

"You're not going alone. Don't even _think_ about it." The Black Paladin quickly interrupted as he crossed both of his arms over his chest. "We'll take a brief look then get to our pods, clear?" He informed with an air of defeat, it was almost impossible to fight her. The younger Paladin's expression lit up in excitement, her chest puffing out with pride. Pidge nodded several times before turning around and displaying the little screen once again.

"Alright, the entrance should be this way." And so the Green Paladin began to lead the way towards the location indicated by the map. "It's not _that_ far, we should get there soon enough." She casually informed with a mere glance over her shoulder, making sure that the leader was in fact following her.

"Good. We don't want the others to get worried, do we?" A paternal tone slithered its way through his words as the two walked. Pidge knew that tone and both loved and hated it. Loved because it made her feel protected and secure, but hated it at the same time because she felt like a little child. She shook her head several times, mumbling under her breath in response. "Right." Shiro understood no word of what she murmured, yet could think that it was the answer he was looking for.

Little time was needed for them to reach the 'entrance' of whatever structure the Galra were building underneath the planet's surface. But, it was enough for the pair to freeze and shiver.

As assumed by Pidge, it was no mining facility. No large vehicles or workers were on sight carrying crystals or anything of the sort. Instead, endless lines of suffering prisoners were walking through those gates, all handcuffed and under the supervision of either a guard or surveillance bot. "They're building some sort prison here." The Green Paladin gasped upon falling into notice, eyes widening and shifting over to Shiro. "It's the perfect place for them. No inhabitants or fauna to fight against, a planet located in a rater isolated place... No weather for a runaway to survive..."

"We need to go and inform the Princess." Shiro immediately said as he pressed his hand against Pidge's shoulder, rather roughly. "Before they notice us." He clarified as he pulled on the other Paladin, ignoring whatever excuse or complain she would emit.

" _Shiro._ " Pidge hissed as she came to a halt once again, her whole body tense and at the brink of shaking. "I know we have to go back, and quick. But, in order to get back here, I should put up some signal. One _they_ can't follow." It was reasonable and a good option for the whole team, knowing that they wouldn't just simply leave the poor innocent prisoners there forever. "This is too much for us to handle right now, so I need to make sure that we have a way to return when ready." And with that she pulled herself free from Shiro's grasp, though he didn't put up much of a fight either. "Make sure that no one finds us whilst I make a hole in the ground." What was Pidge's plan? Well, bury the tracked underground, making sure that the Galra wouldn't find it easily. It wasn't the best or most elegant way to proceed, but they were in a rush.

Shiro nodded a couple of times in response before starting to look around for any guard or unit to appear. He could hear his teammate fidgeting with the ground, throwing aside little by little the sand-looking earth. No movement around them was detected, which was rather good in the situation they found themselves at. Not many would be able to spend so much time in enemy territory, filled with robots and soldiers that could kill them in matter of seconds. He was fully focused on his task, but there was one question from the Green Paladin that managed to break through his concentration.

"What if my dad and brother are here...?" Said words made Shiro look down at Pidge, who had already placed the device but haven't started to put the sand back in. In fact, she was frozen on the spot. "What if they were brought here? There's a large possibility..." She continued to wonder, eventually looking up to the Black Paladin. "Shiro, they could be _here_." She quickly stood up and turned around to face the gate, moving as if in autopilot. "We shou-"

The male knew that he had to put this to an immediate stop. Pidge wouldn't think _twice_ if the chance of finding her family was on the table. Unfortunately, he let his guard down and didn't notice the rushing figures with raised weapons aiming directly at them.

He also didn't notice Pidge's scream for him as several lights illuminated the area. He could feel his body getting into motion, his mind suddenly clouded as he went to fight the few units that attacked them. But, he should've kept an eye on his surroundings, or, more exactly, on who aimed at him.

If so, Pidge wouldn't have taken the blast for him, it wouldn't have been necessary. Sadly, it was too late to rewind and retry.

* * *

 **Yo! Fena here!**

 **So, I know it took me long to publish, but I didn't really have the time to write properly. Therefore, I decided to cut this a little shorter than originally planned. However the next chapter _should_ be up soon, I have a whole free week to do so. ouo**

 **Anyway! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.~ And feel free to write up your comments, opinions, suggestions, anything! Both via comment and PM are equally accepted and appreciated!**

 **Thank you for reading~!**


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